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Creek band parents: Cudas should be flagged for wayward warm-ups

The Spruce Creek marching band performs during halftime at the New Smyrna Beach Sports Complex in New Smyrna Beach on Friday. Some Spruce Creek band parents are upset that New Smyrna's football team continued pregame warm-ups while the band was taking the field.

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Jenkins said he is scheduled to meet with the Volusia County School District Office of Professional Standards at noon Tuesday to discuss a pregame incident between the NSB football team and the Spruce Creek marching band Friday night.

Several Spruce Creek band parents feel the Barracudas crossed the line during warm-ups by running through the Hawks' band members, who were performing their pregame show. Jenkins said that is not the case, and Spruce Creek was out of line.

Jenkins' Barracudas defeated rival Spruce Creek, 41-14, to finish the regular season 9-0. It was the school's first undefeated regular season since 1999.

The incident was filmed by a Spruce Creek band parent and posted on YouTube. The video had been removed Tuesday morning but was reposted later in the day.

New Smyrna Beach principal Jim Tager said he watched the video before it was taken down and called the incident “unfortunate.”

Tager said he did not believe Jenkins' job was in jeopardy.

“I'm in the process of crafting an apology,” Tager said Monday. “Bottom line is nobody intended to hurt anybody. While what happened is regrettable, it's hard to go back and correct that past.''

Tager and Spruce Creek principal Todd Sparger both said Monday that no injuries were reported to either of them after the incident.

Jenkins insisted that his pregame warm-ups were completely within the rules.

He said Spruce Creek coach Bob Goebel emailed him at 3 p.m. Friday to inform him it was “Senior Night” and ask the 'Cudas to finish warm-ups by 6:35 p.m. for the 7 p.m. game, so that the band could take the field. Jenkins said he was fine with that, and that his team was off the field by that time.

But he said the band began lining up in the end zone at 6:15 p.m., the dance team took the field at 6:20 p.m., and the band began marching on the field at 6:30 p.m., when the Barracudas were still warming up.

"They start coming out in into the end zone, and I said get out of our end zone,” Jenkins said. “At 6:30, they storm out on the field and go right through my huddle. There was not a single official on the field, and we're going to finish our drill. That's a penalty. If the officials are out there on time, it would've been a penalty on them.”

After the band was introduced by the public-address announcer, it began performing and its formation extended near the 20-yard line. New Smyrna Beach then lined up in a punt formation, the final play of pregame warm-ups, according to Jenkins. Several players ran down the field but appeared to stop about 2 yards short of the 45-yard line.

"Our coach is real structured, and he runs a very scripted set of plays before the game,” Tager said. “I'm sure, in hindsight, he now wishes he hadn't ran those last two plays.''

Goebel and Spruce Creek band director Andrew Kidd could not be reached for comment Monday.

"We thought we had an understanding of what was going to happen before the game and, obviously, there was some snafu with that,'' Sparger said.

According to the Florida High School Athletic Association rulebook: "A school's team shall warm up in an area between the end line and the 45-yard line on the side of the field to which it is assigned for pregame warm-ups by the host school management. Enforcement of this policy shall be the responsibility of the host school management until the jurisdiction of the game officials begins. A violation of this policy shall be considered an act of unsporting conduct and shall be penalized pursuant to (National Federation of State High School Associations) rules."

“We're getting a bad rap and they're saying we have no class,” Jenkins said. “I've been doing this for 20 years, and every Senior Night that I've been a part of, we've never had what we had (Friday night).”

Kristy Hof, whose son plays for the NSB football team, agreed with the Barracudas' coach.

“By rule, the host has to make sure both teams have an area to warm up on the field, and that area can't be violated or encroached upon until the game,” Hof said. “They felt entitled to do as they pleased. It was just rude. They put their own kids in jeopardy and who knows what could happen.

“If you go look online, we are being called all kinds of names and they're saying they hope we don't win any playoff games. It is ridiculous. They violated an actual rule, but they are smearing us. It is shameful. It really is, somebody on Spruce Creek's side decided to put their kids in harm's way.”

Several Spruce Creek band parents had a different take on the incident.

“It was the most horrible football game I've been, too,” Spruce Creek band parent Melinda Veilleux said. "The kids follow the adults' leadership. They wouldn't have stayed out on the field without the direction of the coaches."

Michele Guarneri, the mother of a Spruce Creek color guard member, said several football players, stepped on her daughter's equipment and verbally abused her. Guarneri used the word “chaos” to describe the pregame incident.

“There could have been a riot that nobody could have broken up,” she said.

Tager said Tuesday's meeting with the Office of Professional Standards would be good for Jenkins because parties from all sides would be heard.

Staff writer Buddy Shacklette contributed to this report.

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